lupazoo

[kip_w]

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I found another local site of interest to children: the Lupa Zoo, in Ludlow. I had been searching Google for the name of the animal park we see on a sign every time we head for Boston with Sarah. The sign is on a side road we take when we go to a Big Y store that we have taken Sarah to (for bathroom purposes) on every trip we take eastward on the Mass Pike. This was not that zoo, but it turned out pretty good.

I wasn't expecting it from their web page, which didn't inspire a lot of confidence. They offer a downloadable map, which identifies a large tract in the middle as future exhibit space. We took off without the directions I'd printed out, but it was still easy to find, and it turns out to be bigger than the Forest Park Zoo in Springfield. Admission was reasonable, and I bought a pack of Ry-Krisp crackers to feed to some animals. Almost all the animals seem to dote on Ry-Krisp or handfuls of dry corn, which are given to them via tubes, to prevent finger bites. We bought some corn from vending machines, and also picked up lots of fallen corn on the ground, which the animals did not disdain. They had lots of deer, some emus and ostriches, donkeys, tiny horse varieties, zebras, elk, reindeer, pigs, gators, turtles, monkeys of various kinds, a camel and a giraffe. Among others. I bought a second pack of Ry-Krisps. As it neared closing time (4:30 in the summer), we got Sarah a frozen Dora treat, and some fried dough for Cathy. Then it was time to go, and Sarah announced that she had to go, so we went back and found the restroom.

Coming back from the zoo, I asked Sarah what she had enjoyed. I didn't get an answer, because she was wildly convinced we were going the wrong way. When it became clear we were going the right way, she calmed down, and Cathy asked what she had liked the best. Sarah acted like a monkey for about five minutes. We got her quiet again, and a minute later, she was upset because an arm had broken off of a plastic Care Bear she had been concentrating on. I had her pass it up to me, and it was clearly unfixable. The broken plastic post was very stressed, and the two exposed faces weren't congruent any more. We expressed regrets.

"There's a place where they can fix these. Want to know where it is?" We said sure. "In China," she told us. I was half expecting this. Sarah is a fount of interesting information, much of it concerning China these days. "They have all the tools and all the parts." She amplified. "And they don't charge anything at all for people who were born there. I looked at their web site." Cathy made an "isn't that interesting?" sound. Sarah went on, still thinking of the parts. "Every computer has a little secret compartment in it." We encouraged her to tell us more. It turns out that the compartment is only on computers for kids, but I didn't ask how they knew whether a kid would buy a certain computer. Also, you can't break into it. You have to go to their web page and they will open it for you, and presumably, you can find a brand new Care Bear arm there, courtesy of the People's Republic of China.

All in all, a pretty good outing. Next time we can spend an extra $5 and they'll let us to up the stairs to a platform where we can feed the giraffe. The food's included in the $5.
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Comments

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

So when and how does she find out China isn't a wonderful place? When she gets to it in school? I guess I'm worried that she'll have quite a shock.

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

I don't know how soon learning some of the current realities of China will be. She's anxious to see the place, and we'd like to take her, but it won't be soon enough to suit her. She was crying about it last night: she wants to go back, she wants to find her birth mom and dad. She thinks she remembers all kinds of things (they told her about the bear repair thing when she was a tiny baby, she says).

And I know how she feels, I guess. I've told her how much I miss Colorado and my friends and family. I wonder if she's taking her cue from me.

[davesslave.livejournal.com]

Why do you think Sarah is so focused on China, right now? Does she just want to know mor about her heritage? Or is it something else?

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure. We've told her from the beginning that it's where she's from. Recently, she's been asking for the story of how she was born and became our daughter as a bedtime story (we've told it to her before as well, but it really seems to have clicked with her lately). She also sometimes asks for the story of how I was born. I don't now why she hasn't asked for Cathy's origin story as much. She plays favorites, I guess.

Part of it might just be that she's frustrated in so many ways in the present. She can't do all the things she wants to do. She can't find friends to play with (I'd call this Reason #1) -- they're all busy or not at home. Her school friends live in other towns, because we chose a preschool that was sort of on the way to Cathy's work.

Other parts of her heritage, she's not all that interested in. She'll sit for a little while, then the five-year-old's attention span kicks in.

[readwriteblue.livejournal.com]

I often take my children to Southwick's Zoo. (http://www.southwickszoo.com/) We always have a good time there. You may also be interested in going to Davis Farmland. (http://www.davisfarmland.com/)

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info! I'll keep these places in mind. Southwick seems pretty close by. If you haven't tried the Lupa Zoo yet, you might want to -- adult admission is $5, and Sarah (age 5) was just $2.